Take a stab at ‘Nidhogg’

Garrett MartinFriday, January 17, 2014

Credit: Unknown

SWORDPLAY: ‘Nidhogg,’ above, has a single-player mode, but the game is at its best when you duel with a friend.

“Nidhogg” came out for PCs on Monday, but it’s not exactly new. Messhof’s arty sword-fighting game was nominated for a handful of Independent Games Festival awards in 2011 and won the Nuovo prize for innovation. It popped up as a playable demo at various game conferences since then, and almost everybody who’s had the chance to play it has raved about it. Now you can finally own it.

Gamers love “Nidhogg” in part because you need people to play it. It’s a two-player game, a fast-paced duel between you and a friend. The retail version adds a single-player mode and lets you play with friends online, but it’s still designed with local play in mind. There’s been a resurgence of ­local multiplayer games in the independent game design world (see “Samurai Gunn” or “Sportsfriends”); “Nidhogg” was one of the first and remains perhaps the best.

Every game starts with two blocky, Atari-looking swordsmen in a room, one yellow and one orange, each guarding a pathway. The goal is to win that duel, charge onto the next screen, and continue winning duels until you reach the finish line — where a giant flying worm will eat you.

It’s like football, in a way. Instead of making­ plays or converting downs, you press on, slashing that sword. If you die, the level doesn’t end — your opponent now has control and has to run the opposite direction into your territory. There are no limits to your lives, and if your swordsman dies, another one appears in his place. You can make it all the way to the final screen and then get pushed back to your own end zone within seconds after a bit of bad luck.

The individual duels are tense, and although they can last only a second (a single strike can kill), they also can grow into epic back-and-forth sword fights. That tension is amplified when you’re playing in a room with a friend. Between the ever-changing momentum, the straight-forward but surprisingly complex combat system, the retro psychedelic visuals and a dubby score by the electronic musician Daedelus, “Nid­hogg” is both a riotously fun friendship stress-test and a gorgeous piece of art.